Five things we learned from Sunday's Patriots game

Despite the 3-0 start, there were many just holding their breath waiting to see how the Patriots would fare against teams that weren't bottom dwellers. I think we found our answer.

ANDREW TORNETTA

Apparently the Patriots' introduction to the real NFL wasn't all that bad after all. Despite the 3-0 start, there were many fans and pundits alike that were just holding their breath waiting to see how New England would fare against teams that weren't bottom dwellers. Well, after the Patriots went into Atlanta and held on to beat the Falcons 30-23, I think we found our answer. Here are the five things we learned from Sunday night's thrilling last-minute victory:

The Patriots entered the game allowing just 34 points over their first three games, the lowest since 1979. The defense was the biggest reason for the team's 3-0 start but still left doubt of how good it truly was due to the level of its competition. Shutting down the Bills, Jets and Buccaneers was nothing to write home about. However, going into the Georgia Dome and slowing down Matt Ryan and the Falcons is an entirely different story.

It didn't look good at first, as Atlanta's first drive of the game saw them go 75 yards down the field on 13 plays, ripping through the Patriots defense like it wasn't even there. However, once they got into the red zone the Patriots defense stiffened up and forced back to back incompletions on second and third down to hold the Falcons to a field goal. The next time Atlanta drove into the red zone the Patriots fared even better, stopping the home team on fourth down. Leading by a touchdown with 41 seconds left, Atlanta faced a fourth-and-seven from the 11-yard line and one last time the Patriots defense came up with a stop. In 2012, opponents converted nine of 23 fourth-down conversions against the Patriots defense (39 percent), but this year they haven't converted once in six tries. The offense has been carrying the Patriots for the past decade, but it looks like the defense may have officially taken over as the team's top unit.

Aqib Talib is known as more of a playmaker than a shutdown cornerback. He makes big plays but can also give them up. However, on Sunday night he gave up virtually nothing. Matched up with Julio Jones, one of the top receivers in the NFL, Talib was relentless. Jones entered the game with 27 catches (9 per game), 373 yards (124 per game) and two touchdowns over the first three weeks but was nearly invisible when matched up with Talib. His only catch when matched up one-on-one with Talib was down near the goal line when he caught a pass before getting hit after just one yard.

You can't stop somebody as good as Jones by yourself and Talib did have some assistance, with safety help over the top on more plays than not. However, when Matt Ryan did look for Jones and it would be a go up and get it play, it was Talib going up to knock it down nearly every time. With the Patriots leading 27-13, Ryan threw a jump-ball to Jones down the sidelines and instead it was Talib who came down with his fourth interception of the season. On the game's final play, Ryan once again tested Talib on a pass to Jacquizz Rodgers in the endzone and he deliverd one last time, knocking the ball away to seal the victory. In the game, Talib was thrown at eight times, only allowing one catch for one yard while also intercepting a pass. It has been a while since the Patriots had a cornerback that they could stick on any receiver in the league and feel relatively confident and after his performance on Sunday night, it seems that they have found that in Talib.

Tom Brady playing in a dome on Sunday Night Football against a high-powered offense would typically mean he puts up a type of game that would make Peyton Manning fans jealous. At least, that would be the expectations with the old Patriots. These new Patriots on the other hand are quickly dumping their high flying offense and going to a much more conservative approach. In the second quarter, the Patriots ran nine consecutive rushing plays to drive 50 yards down the field before running a play-action pass to Matthew Mulligan for a touchdown. In fact, Brady attempted just nine passes in the entire first half.

However, this is not to say that Brady won't take his shots down the field either. He showed his willingness to do that when he launched a pass 49 yards downfield to Kenbrell Thompkins, who jumped over the top of a defender to come down with an amazing catch. However, these big passing plays are coming off play-action passes where the defense is more worried about the run than the pass. The Patriot offense we are accustomed to seeing is draw plays out of the shotgun to Danny Woodhead, who runs seven yards without getting touched because defenses are so far back off the line of scrimmage. Nowadays, the running game is opening up the passing game, not the other way around.

With the lights shining bright, it was the undrafted rookie that proved to be the best player on the Patriots offense. Kenbrell Thompkins, the man that was the preseason darling before turning into a regular season goat, is now back to being a fan favorite after his last two games. Last week against Tampa Bay, Thompkins caught a pair of touchdown passes but on Sunday night he had the best performance of his young and promising career.

Thompkins put all of his skills on display against Atlanta, leaping up over the top of William Moore to haul in a 49-yard pass in the first quarter while keeping two feet in bounds on an impressive 18-yard touchdown in the fourth. This is not to say he doesn't have more improving to do. He still drops too many passes but it is clear who has risen to the top of the Brady's favorites list and that is the explosive rookie out of Cincinnati.

On the Falcons opening drive of the game, Vince Wilfork came up lame during a play and limped off the field. He was later seen sitting on the back of a cart with his right shoe and sock off and it was announced that he had injured his ankle. There was no word of how serious the injury is but if he misses any time it would be devastating for the Patriot defense. It is well known how valuable Wilfork is both on and off the field but the even more worrisome aspect o the injury is that there is no depth behind him. Tommy Kelly is a 10-year veteran who spent the majority of his career with the Raiders and the only other defensive tackles on the team are Joe Vellano and Chris Jones, both rookies.